May 2009

Amazing. If I had to sum up Greece in one word it would probably be just that. Or Stunning. Or Tranquil. Or Mesmerizing. Or if I get 4 words it would be “just what I needed after 5 months of hostels and wearing shower shoes.” Okay, so that's 13 words, but you get the idea. Our Greece experience is one that will standout in a lifetime of memory books. While we will definitely be back to Greece (there’s so much to see), we may likely never get to see it the way that we did with Jenny and Rob.

It all started when we finally, after 4 months of emails, phone calls, and sometimes even tears, met up with my sister and Rob (with their son Ethan and nanny Jen in tow) on the island of Rhodes. I couldn't have been happier to see them (as much fun as Kevin and I had touring Turkey for two weeks -- meeting up with my sister was all I could think about!). Kevin and I caught a quick ferry from Marmaris, Turkey to Rhodes, Greece, which is where our journey with them began.

Our plans for the itinerary included a visit to three different islands: Rhodes for 3 nights, Crete for an additional 3 nights, and then finally Santorini for 4 nights. Then we would be flying to Athens for a one night stay and that is when we would part ways. In addition to meeting us in Greece, Jenny and Rob also planned this entire leg of the trip – including picking up the hotel accmoodations and transfers. And these weren’t just any accommodations – they were five star hotels and suites. When we arrived at our first hotel we knew we were in for an amazing two weeks (check out these pics of our Rhodes hotel -- the last one is of our private pool

RHODES

The island of Rhodes was a lot of fun and a worthy visit. Outside of being the site of the hotel (which, in our opinion was enough of a reason to visit alone), Rhodes is is one of the most popular islands of Greece and the capital, Rhodes Town, is surrounded by stone walls of a very well preserved Venetian castle. It is one of the biggest and best preserved medieval settlements in all of Europe. And like any proper European castle district, this one didn't disappoint with its narrow cobblestone streets filled with restaurants, shops, and sites that are restricted to pedestrians. (In fact, the streets are so narrow I don't see how cars could ever fit).

Most of the buildings in this part of the city date from Italian rule and are thus adorned with neo-Gothic and Venetian architectural style. This adds much charm to the city and is evident in the types of restaurants -- we definitely had a lot of Greek and Italian food!

Another must-see of Rhodes is a visit to the village of Lindos. It is located south of the capital, on the eastern coast of the island. It is dominated by a magnificent and imposing acropolis, which can be visited either by foot (quite a steep hike to the top) or with the aid of a donkey. Initially, Jenny and I were psyched about the opportunity to ride a donkey up the hill. However, our better sense won out when we learned via our guidebooks that donkeys should not be ridden by persons over 115 pounds. It was quite disheartening to learn and observe the amount of weight that these small animals bore over gruelling conditions -- apparently the Greeks apply no restrictions on who can hire them. Donkey or no donkey, the hike to the acropolis was well worth the effort. It rewarded us with ancient ruins and amazing views of the town of Lindos.

CRETE

After a few sun-filled days touring the island of Rhodes and spending lazy days sunbathing in our private hotel-room pools, we set off for our quick flight to Crete. Once in Crete, we ended up at a resort town called Elounda, and at a resort we will forever fondly refer to as "The Palace." The actual name of the resort is "The Blue Palace," and it is like nothing we have ever experienced before. I know I sound a bit like a broken record, but believe me when I say that this made the resort on Rhodes feel like a DoubleTree. (Oh, am I really back to the "hotel-snob Amy" that I was before I left on this trip? And here just a week ago, I would have reveled in the thought of staying at a DoubleTree. Wow, what a little 5-class resort treatment will do to a person!).

Unfortunately, with just two full days in Crete we did not have adequate time to see much of the island and were focused on just those areas close enough to our hotel. (I would recommend dedicating at minimum 5 nights in Crete...it's just too big of an island to do in 2 days). However, we did manage to visit Knossos, which is a must-see for those interested in ancient history (you're welcome, Kevin and Rob).

But truly the highlight of Crete for me is probably swimming in the Mediterranean Sea at the Blue Palace hotel. After a day spent kyaking and paddle boating out to a nearby island with ruins to check out, we returned to the comforts of our resort. Rob and Kevin convinced my sister and I that we needed to join them in the sea, as it was probably our only opportunity to actually swim in the Mediterranean. We were convinced --- and the feeling of floating through the crystal blue waters of a sea on the other side of the world from Seattle -- well, it never gets old. And retiring to the terry-clothed comfort of our bathrobe and slippers with glass of syrah in hand - I just don't think it ever gets better than this...

Rhodes and Crete have blown us away. And now we can't wait to see what is in store on our final Greek island stop: Santorini.

What We Did: We spent two full weeks traveling through Turkey. We began in Istanbul (three days there); then took the overnight bus to Goreme in the central Cappadocia region (three more days); took another overnight bus to Olympos, on the Mediterranean coast (two days); sailed on a “blue cruise” gullet boat from Olympos to Fethiye (four days); and then relaxed in Fethiye and Marmaris (three days) before catching a ferry to Rhodes, Greece.

Overall Impression: Turkey was easily one of our favorite destinations. (Of the countries visited so far, Amy ranks it third behind only New Zealand and Vietnam. Definitely a top spot.) There is a ton to see and do in this country, and we could have easily spent another week here.

Food & Drink: The food in Turkey is fantastic, often very simple but expertly spiced and marinated. We frequently had amazing lentil soup, enjoyed delicious kebab sandwiches on pita, and ate ridiculous quantities of bread at every meal. For beverages, we pretty much drank tea, tea, and more Turkish tea (with the occasional beer thrown in). Sorry, no more tea, please. I need a break.

The People: The Turkish people are exceedingly friendly and outgoing. (I’d rank Turkey and Laos as the two friendliest countries we’ve visited.) Shopkeepers routinely invited us in for tea, even when they knew that would not be buying anything. Restaurant owners would come chat with us during our meals and literally shake our hands when we said goodbye. And,on a slightly different note, Amy couldn’t stop talking about how attractive Turkish men are. (Enough already!)

Cost: Turkey is by no means cheap (not like Southeast Asia, for example). But good accommodation is reasonably priced, and the food can be very inexpensive---especially if you get slightly away from the tourist centers. For instance, at a small restaurant in Feyithe, Amy and I ordered lentil soup, Turkish pizza, a dip platter with pita, and beer---and our total bill was only 8 liras (about $6). And fantastic kebab sandwiches are widely available for less than $2 each.

Night Buses: We took night buses from Istanbul to Goreme and then, later, from Goreme to Olympos. Both of these buses left late in the evening (usually around 10 or 11 at night) and arrived at 8 or 9 in the morning. The buses are modern, air-conditioned and quite nice---but they are still only as comfortable as buses can possibly get. (Thank goodness for sleeping pills.) The photo below is from a shuttle bus (not a night bus) where the bus was overflowing, and I had to sit on the floor. (Thankfully, it was a relatively short ride.)

Istanbul: Turkey’s largest city is as fascinating and memorable as any European city we’ve seen. Our three days here weren’t enough. (We wanted to stay at least four nights, but we couldn’t find accommodation beyond our three nights.) Highlights included the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Grand Bazaar, the Spice Bazaar, and just aimlessly wandering the winding, cobblestone streets of Old Town.

Cappaddocia: The Cappadoccia region was probably my favorite part of Turkey. The rock formations here look like they are from a different planet; incredibly unique and often flat-out stunning. Much of the town of Goreme is built into these rock formations, and our hotel was actually a “cave hotel” with the rooms dug out of a rock chimney.

For activities in Cappaddocia, we hiked through canyons, toured an ancient underground city, and floated over the rock formations and canyons in a hot air balloon. Very cool place.

Olympos: Our next stop was the tiny town on Olympos, a small backpacker hangout located in southern Turkey on the Mediterranean Sea. We hiked the surrounding mountains, wandered through ruins, hung out by the sea, and generally did a whole lot of nothing at our bungalow. Very relaxing. Very nice. We also did a night hike to the Chimera Flames (a natural phenomenon that produces everlasting flames from the ground), where we had a bit of a scare---Amy fell and sprained her ankle. Fortunately, the sprain was slight, and it didn’t restrict it her much. And what better means of recovery then to spend four days relaxing on a boat? (That is exactly what we did next.)

Boat Cruise. From Olympos, we boarded a sailboat and spent four days and three nights cruising the Mediterranean coast until we reached Feyithe. There were 11 guests total on the boat, and--aside from several stops to explore coastal towns or ruins--most of our days were lazily spent sunning, swimming, and playing cards. (Luckily, the weather was fantastic.) The water here is crystal clear, and the mountains rising up out of the sea are extremely scenic.

Feyithe. Our boat cruise ended in the coastal town of Feyithe, where we spent two more nights. Throughout our trip, we had been reluctantly resisting the urge to buy many souvenirs (since we had almost no room in our suitcases and didn’t want to carry heavy souvenirs around for months on end)----but, here in Feyithe, we finally broke down and bought a few items. (For better or worse, we’ve visited 17 countries so far and yet most of our souvenirs and gifts will all come from a single country. Oh well.)

Marmaris. From Feyithe, we took a three-hour bus to the coastal town of Marmaris, which is a popular destination for Europeans. Very touristy. We had barely an evening in Marmaris before we caught an early morning ferry to the Greek island of Rhodes.

In Rhodes, we met up with Amy’s sister, Jenny, and Jenny’s husband, Rob. (Plus, their baby, Ethan). The plan is to visit the Greek islands of Rhodes, Crete, and Santorini before spending a short time in Athens. Greece is one of the final countries on our trip (only Paris remains), and we are definitely going out with a bang. More soon…

Have you ever been on a hot-air balloon ride? Neither had I. That is until we arrived in the country of Turkey and the spectacular region of Cappadocia. I knew at some point in my life that I would probably get to experience the thrill of floating high in the sky in a hot-air balloon. But if you asked me a year ago where and when it would be, I would have never guessed it would occur this year, and absolutely never across the world in Turkey. But that’s exactly what Kevin and I did a few days ago.

We woke up very early on Sunday morning (5:30am!) to catch the first ride of the day (sunrise). When we arrived at the launch site, the excitement started; just in seeing the 10 – 15 incredibly massive balloons getting inflated in preparation for the morning’s first launch was a sight to be seen. The day couldn’t have been better for ballooning if hand-painted by a master artist herself – the sun was just starting to rise over the hilltops and blue sky engulfed us. We waited as our balloon was being inflated and several others launched before our eyes; the anxious passengers filling into the baskets and then the balloons slowly floating into the sky. Our balloon wasn’t even inflated yet and already my camera had taken nearly 100 photos. I couldn’t wait for our turn!

Finally, the 9 of us in our group were told to get in the basket, which was partitioned into 5 sections. Kevin and I climbed into one of those sections. Then, with the massive, fully inflated balloon dominating the sky above us, the pilots ignited the torches that sent our balloon aflight. The feeling as we left the earth and started to float is indescribable. It’s not a scary feeling – nothing like a roller coaster or other thrill-seeker’s adventure – but rather a peaceful and surreal feeling as you slowing float away into the sky. The view was incredible – the Cappadocia region in Turkey itself is uniquely beautiful – built upon incredible rock formations as far as the eye can see. The ancient people that settled in this land made shelters and homes out of the rock caves, which can be seen everywhere . In fact, even the hotels and hostels are mostly built within these ancient caves (including our hotel room!).

Floating in the sky gives you an incredible view of the caves and rock formations all throughout this region. And the feeling of being in a hot-air balloon is amazing – it is such a peaceful and romantic experience, with the occasional adrenalin rush. A few times the pilots descended us deep into a canyon made by the rock formations to get an up close and personal view of the caves and landscapes. This was an incredible feeling – the expertise that they needed to have in order to keep us floating deep in the canyons without hitting any of the rocks amazed me. (Isn’t at least some of the direction and speed we move based on the current wind pattern and out of the control of the pilots??). At any rate, Kevin and I agreed that the most exhilarating part of the ride was when we were descended deep into the canyons, and not, as I would have expected, when we were flying hundreds of feet into the air.

At one point when we were deep within a canyon, the pilots changed our direction to have us head toward a rock tower (or what they call cave chimneys since they are tall, long, and usually inhabit a cave within them that was used in ancient times for shelter). The view was great, and kept getting better as the pilots moved us in closer and closer. I kept thinking that they must be planning on turning us around soon. But we weren’t changing directions yet. And we were getting closer and closer to the point that if we didn’t turn around now, I thought for sure we would hit. So I peeled my head away from the chimney to look at our pilots – what were they thinking?? They just had this calm look on their face with a slight smile. I quickly looked back at where we were headed. We were definitely ascending now in an attempt to get above the chimney, but it was going to be close! Nearer and nearer to the chimney we got while we continued to ascend higher and higher, but not yet enough to clear the chimney. Now everyone in our basket was on the edge of their feet and starting to squirm – a few people called out worries. We saw the pilots staring intently ahead concentrating deeply on this maneuver. Finally, we had reached the chimney and ascended to the top of it, but all of the passengers held their breath (or closed their eyes) as we moved up over it, uncertain whether we would clear it. You could see all our heads (well those of us who kept our eyes open) lean over the basket (including our pilots!) to ensure that our basket cleared. It did! Whew…that was all the excitement I needed for the one flight. Everyone cheered and I found the pilots smiling, clearly proud of their efforts. I couldn’t help wondering how they practice these moves – it certainly leaves you no room for error!

After about an hour and 15 minutes of flying, we slowly descended to the ground. Our ride was over. And what a ride it was! We celebrated with glasses of champagne and were each issued certificates of our achievement. I wasn’t exactly sure what our achievement was, unless it was keeping our breakfast down while they succeeded in the trick moves. At any rate, Kevin and I were all smiles as we toasted each other to another amazing experience overseas. Hot Air Ballooning in Turkey? Who would have guessed (though I hear Luxor, Egypt has amazing hot-air ballooning...)!

After a month traveling through Eastern Europe (plus Amsterdam), we’ve encountered a countless array of random and odd things that are probably only interesting to us ignorant Americans. (Or maybe just me.) Here are some of the most memorable ones…

Paying to Pee: Most of the public restrooms throughout Eastern Europe require payment for use (usually somewhere around 25-50 cents). Paying a person stationed closely outside the restroom seems a bit strange in its own respect. But the most bizarre thing (for me anyway) was in the Krakow train station, where the cost differed depending on whether I planned on using a toilet (more expensive) or just a urinal (less expensive). In essence, I had to tell the lady beforehand exactly what I planned on doing inside that restroom (for the record: just peeing). Seems a bit strange and awkward, no?

More Toilet Talk: Amsterdam has a popular, late-night square surrounded by scores of bars that is thus filled with scores of drunken men at night roaming around the square. What’s the best restroom solution for hundreds of drunken guys and late-night loitering? Well, the city installed outdoor urinals near the middle of the square, in public display of everyone...

Obama-Mania. Every country we visit (including Asia and New Zealand) is obsessed with our new president. The local newspapers talk endlessly about him, and the local people—when we tell them that we are from the U.S.—continually ask us about him and/or tell us how much they prefer him to our previous president. (At this point, he’s pretty much like an international rock star.)

U.S. & Seattle Travelers. Throughout our travels, we have met hundreds of travelers… but very few Americans. Compared with other nations (especially England and Australia, or even Canada), a much smaller percentage of Americans seem to travel abroad for long stretches of time (except perhaps for the summer after college graduation). And, for shorter trips, few Americans seem to travel outside of the summer and Christmas seasons.

However, for as few Americans as we’ve met, we’ve met quite a few travelers from Seattle. (We’ve easily met more people from Seattle than any other U.S. city.) Is it a coincidence, or are Seattleites more apt to get out and see the world? (Just today, we met a Seattle guy who went to college and was good friends with two of my hometown friends from Prosser. Small world.)

Vancouver Travelers. As for cities outside of the U.S., we have probably met more travelers from Vancouver, B.C. than from any other city. Sydney, Australia and London, England are a very close second.

Coffee. It is pretty much impossible to find standard drip coffee. Everything is espresso here. The closest we can get to standard coffee is to order essentially an Americano or what’s known as a “long black”(espresso with hot water). Amy’s mom took it a step farther in Croatia by ordering a separate cup of hot water to add to her coffee, which was a great idea. We’ve told various European travelers that we prefer American coffee, which they always find quite shocking. (They think American-style coffee is too thin and watery and far too weak.)

Night Trains. We’ve taken night trains on several occasions, including trips from Prague to Krakow and from Krakow to Budapest. This is a fantastic way to travel large distances. We found our private cabins to be more spacious than we expected, and night travels saves time (plus the expense of a hotel). Highly recommended. With respect to train travel in general, our only word of caution is that some trains do not have any food or beverage service. We took a 9-hour train ride from Budapest to Ljubljana that—to our shock—lacked a dining car or any food service whatsoever. We travelled from noon until 9 o’clock that day without any food (other than a croissant that we had brought, which we rationed sparingly throughout the trip). Not good.

Beer. We may have pined for American-style coffee, but the beer in Eastern Europe is consistently superior. Even the Budweiser is better. Far better. (The Czech “Budweiser” has reportedly been in constant litigation with the American one.)

Gelato. The gelato in Eastern Europe is incredibly good, found on seemingly every street corner, and is quite cheap. (Usually about a dollar per scoop.) I’ll bet we are average two scoops a day on this trip. Highly addictive. Hard to resist.

Escalators. This is random, but the escalators in much of Eastern Europe are often extremely steep and extremely fast. You definitely have to pay attention and time your steps when getting on and off them. (Not sure why I needed to point this out. But now you know.)

Vacation Days. When we talk with foreign travellers about life and culture in the United States, the thing that shocks them the most is the small amount of vacation days that Americans typically receive from their employers. In much of Europe, for instance, it is common for someone right out of school (with zero experience) to get a job with five weeks paid vacation (plus holidays). So they are quite shocked when we tell them that two weeks vacation is fairly typical in the United States. (And, wow, you wouldn't even believe some of the standard maternity/paternity leaves that are offered in many European countries. Ridiculous.)

Dyed-Red Hair: Throughout Eastern Europe, it is very common to see middle-aged or elderly woman with the same exact color of hair dye. We read that this a remnant of the Communist days, when the red hair dye was the only dye available for purchase.

Hot Wine: Who knew that heated wine with cinnamon could be so good? We drank this incessantly in the Czech Republic, where “hot wine” is available in nearly every restaurant and even sold by street vendors. On a cold day, this is tough to beat. And Amy and I have already vowed to make hot wine a Winter Holiday tradition.

Anyway, we are presently travelling around Turkey. Hot air balloons, cave hotels, enormous mosques, tree house hostels, overnight gullet trips, underground cities… yup, we definitely have a lot to report (and some great photos to show). More soon…

From Dubrovnik, we took a four hour bus ride into the country of Bosnia-Herzegovina, staying in the town of Mostar. Mostar has a large Muslim population, which gives it a completely different feel than Croatia. And the setting is stunning: the town straddles the banks of the emerald-green Neretva River, steep mountains surround the area, and the Turkish-style town center is a cobbled, 16th century with the mesmerizing Old Bridge seen below. Very cool.

The war in the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s was especially difficult for Mostar, and the scars definitely still remain. The town was a center of an ugly (and bloody) three-way war between Serbs, Croats, and Bosniaks, with neighbors, friends, and even relatives sometimes taking up arms against each other. Much of the town was left in ruins, which---roughly fifteen years later---is still quite evident.

We planned on spending one night in Mostar, but ended up staying two. We spent our time lazily wandering through the Old Town, which can easily eat up a day without doing much of anything (other than eating, drinking, shopping, and aimless walking). As a bonus, the town is quite cheap---everything seemed about half the price of Croatia.

You can check out all of our photos from Mostar by clicking here. From Mostar, we took a bus to Sarajevo and boarded a plane to Istanbul, Turkey. The rough plan is to spend three or four days in Istanbul, followed by ten days split between Cappadoccia and Turkey's Mediterranean coast. More good times ahead....

We had a wonderful week in Croatia with my parents and were definitely sad to see them go. If you ever get the chance to visit Croatia, don't hesitate to go. Our favorite stops were easily Plitvice National Park and Dubrovnik. Zagreb could easily be missed. Oh - and definitely hit it in the spring or fall, i.e. before or after the summer rush. Our timing was pretty much perfect... the weather (for the most part) was amazing, and the crowds (for the most part) were light. But during weekends and peak times during the day it could get somewhat congested. And we were told this was NOTHING compared to the summers in Croatia. Because we were in the 'shoulder season', not all tours and ferries were available yet. In my opinion, however, this was a worthwhile trade to get to experience the tranquility of the Old Town streets without having to fight the crowds shoulder-to-shoulder as you made your way through the narrow-cobblestoned streets.

The town of Dubrovnik is usually the top destination of anyone visiting Croatia, and, after spending several days there, it was easy to see why. Dubrovnik's center is the impossibly charming Old Town surrounded by a stone castle wall and made up of entirely pedestrian-only cobblestone streets and very narrow alleys. We took the bus to Dubrovnik and all along the way were entranced by the beautiful coastline views. When Dubrovnik finally came into view, we knew we were in for a treat: Dubrovnik looked like a sparkling amber jewel, with its red clay rooftops set amongst the deep blues and greens of the coast.

Dubrovnik was so much fun to explore -- certainly helped by the wonderful sunshine that made for such pleasing days of meandering the narrow streets and stopping frequently for chatter over coffee and tea. However, Dubrovnik wasn't always the sleek and perfectly cute place that it is today. In fact as recently as 1991 it fell under attack by the Yugoslav army and was badly damaged and destroyed. The Croatians repaired most of the damage to the city in the original style so that today, very little evidence of the massive destruction is visible.

Highlights of our visit in Dubrovnik would be the boat cruise we took to nearby islands and the wall walk around the city. The wall walk is easily a must-do in Dubrovnik anytime of year. It has probably the most impressive city wall of any European city. And walking the walls involves climbing a long set of staircases to get to the top of the wall (there is a fee to do this) and then there is a small track that literally takes you around the entire city on the top of the walls! If you walk the whole thing (which we did) it is over 2 kilometers and takes several hours. The views are magnificent -- this is easily where we took a large portion of our photos.

While the island destination themselves on the boat cruise could have been missed (they were more targeted for summer tourists who might sunbathe on the beach at each island stop -- there wasn't much else on the islands), the boat ride itself was very enjoyable and a great vantage point for seeing the city and the surrounding landscape. In fact, when my mom and I got a little cold, the captain invited us into the helm and even asked my mom to take over steering when he went to run another task!

Dubrovnik ended up being the perfect place to end our Croatia leg. It has such a relaxed and carefree pace that encouraged lots of ice cream eating, tea and coffee stops, and plenty of time to converse and catch up with my parents after being gone for so long. A day after my parents left Croatia, we learned about my grandfather's passing. It's hard to be away from home during this time, and I know it must have been difficult for my dad to know that he was away as well. But I'm so thankful that they came out and were able to spend the time with us seeing part of the world. Thank-you, Mom and Dad. We had such a great time and hope you did, too!

You can find all of our Croatia pictures by clicking here. Next up: Bosnia-Herzogovina

Hello, Mom and Dad!!! After four months away from family and friends, Kevin and I met up with my parents in Zagreb, Croatia---and to say that I was excited to see them is an understatement. (I was VERY pleased to see they were at least as excited to see us, as we found my mom waiting for us on the porch of our Zagreb hotel with camera in hand as we arrived). We would be spending a full week with them traveling throughout Croatia. The rough plan was to spend one nıght ın Zagreb, one nıght ın Plıtvıce Natıonal Park, two nıghts ın Splıt, and three nıghts ın Dubrovnık.

From the beginning, my parents told us that they wanted to travel our way... I think my dad even said it something like "essentially doing whatever it is that you would be doing had you been traveling by yourselves, with minor adjustments when necessary to meet our standards" (in other words that meant no hostels). Well, those are the words we essentially lived by -- accommodations and activities were made as we went, which didn't always go as smoothly as would be desired. But then again, that just makes for the experiences you remember and laugh about years down the road, right? :-)

One such experience occurred when we arrived in Split, a coastal city on the Adriatic Sea. Previously, from Zagreb, we went to the Plitvice National Park for a few days--which was great fun, but lacked internet connections (it also lacked sunshine for that matter, not to mention fog and rain, which doesn't make for the best combination when trying to see the scenery, but alas I digress). Due to not having internet connection in Plitvice, we were unable to book our hotel accommodations for Split (our next stop) in advance. We weren't too concerned about this since we were taking a 3-hour bus to Split that should have had us arriving late afternoon in plenty of time to look for accommodations. Also, our trusty Rick Steves guidebook told us that Croatia is famous for "sobes," which are similar to bed & breakfasts in the US. The owners of these accommodations are usually found in hordes at all the train and bus stops waving signs with advertisements and photos of their places, trying to get the tourists to stay at their particular sobe. At the very least, in the bus and train stations you can find sobe booking agencies where, for a small fee, they can show you pictures of all available Sobes and book one for you immediately upon arrival.

This, however, didn't work out to be the smooth operation we had hoped. First of all, our intended 3-hour or so bus ride ended up taking over 7 hours! When we asked the hotel receptionist in Plitvice the length of the ride, maybe she assumed we meant "if we traveled via Concordé jet." When we FINALLY arrived in Split, it was after 9pm, raining, and we were starving, tired, and had no place to stay. And to our bad luck, the expected masses of sobe owners were not to be found (probably due to the late hour and the weather) and the booking agency had closed for the night. Luckily (or so we thought), one little old lady who couldn't speak English approached us with her sobe advertisement sign. After several minutes of my mom and I trying to communicate with her via sign language, charades, and even the use of a random bystander for translation, we finally confirmed that she had two rooms available in her sobe located in the middle of the Old Town (downtown area), each with its own bathroom. Our luggage getting a unwanted free wash from the rain, we decided to follow her.

After a painfully slow walk through the rain, we finally reached her sobe. We walked into the lobby of a large apartment building and all stared towards the winding staircase that went directly up. Kevin and my dad decided to wait with our luggage on the bottom floor, while my mom and I followed her to check out the rooms. After a couple flights of very steep stairs, the lady stopped on the landing. Whew! Well, two flights is manageable wıth luggage we thought (though barely!). "Which room is ours?" I asked. She giggled quickly with her hands on her knees taking in several large breaths. "Up, up" she said between breaths and pointed further up the staircase. "Rest," she said next as she moved to the handrail to support herself as she tried to steady her breathing. My mom and I just looked at each other. More stairs? Finally we climbed the remaining flights of stairs and reached her sobe apartment. When she opened the door it was chaos. A scraggly dog came running over. An older man was watching TV in the next room over. Junk was everywhere. My mom and I later reported that it felt like we walked into someone's cramped, very busy home without warning -- nothing was picked up and this didn't appear to be a business that they regularly entertained. "Where are the rooms?" I asked. So she led us to two bedrooms, moving furniture and items out of our way as we followed her. We saw the rooms and immediately knew we couldn't stay here. It smelled thickly of tobacco smoke, among other (and more glarıng) problems. We didn't find the promised attached bathrooms and asked where they were (I whispered to my mother that this was our excuse to flee...since she had promised attached baths). The older man who spoke great English said that the bathroom was just down the hall; we'd share the bathroom and they would use a different one. The gentleman took us across to the other end of the apartment to a bathroom, moved some furniture out of the way and said it was all ours. We peered inside. Then we looked at each other. We knew there was no way we could stay here. No chance. We felt terrible (it obviously wasn't easy for the older lady to walk so far and up so many flights all for a wasted effort), but we politely declined and walked away. (Once we were outside, my mom and I couldn't help but crack up laughing. The place was so awful and just plain strange, the only thıng we could do was laugh about ıt.)

So now the four of us were outside with our luggage in the rain, still starving and getting wetter and colder. We needed a game plan. We saw an overhang from a convenience store and quickly huddled under it for protection while we looked at our map and discussed our next steps. To our good fortune, the woman who runs the convenience store overheard our conversation and asked if she could help us. We quickly explained our predicament and she promised to have someone over soon that could show us some good rooms (and with attached bathrooms she confirmed). We thanked her profusely when Jane arrived and followed her several blocks to another sobe.

There were two bedrooms to choose from: one was on the second floor and was nice enough, though extremely homely. The other is what Bepo (Jane's son) liked to call "The Love Abode." It was decked out in hearts and mirrors and clearly decorated to "get you in the mood". Though the room was extremely large and clean, I couldn't help but laugh out loud when we saw it. The advantage of these rooms, however, is that they did have their own attached bathrooms and felt like separate apartments or hotel rooms.

We decided to check out a nearby hotel before agreeing to book the sobe -- while the rooms were nice enough, there was a funny vibe that we got from Jane and Bepo. So we left Kevin and my dad back at the sobe while my mom and I checked out some nearby hotels. Of course, these didn't work out as they were unbelievably expensive compared to what you get. (Hotels in downtown are ridiculously priced -- there are very few in the Old Town, so they charge a premium.) So, fighting the rain and cold, we headed back to find Kevin and Dad to let them know we'd agree to stay in Jane's Sobe. Unfortunately, that wasn't as easy as it sounds. The streets of Old Town are the tiniest, most narrow and winding cobblestone streets you've ever seen. It's literally like wandering through a maze. After several turns and efforts at trying to retrace our steps, we realized we were lost and couldn't find our way back.

Eventually I started calling out Kevin's name hoping he'd hear me. Nothing. I soon remembered that Jane had given me her business card so I pulled it out and showed it to some Croatian guys I found smoking in the corner of one of the streets. They tried to show us, taking us down several streets until finally arriving at a hostel we had never seen before. With big smiles on their faces they pointed and said "there!". Mom and I sadly shook our heads and said that wasn't it. They kept insisting "yes, yes". Clearly our language barrier wouldn't enable us to explain that we had already been to our sobe on the card and knew that the hostel wasn't what we were looking for. So we just walked away apologizing. Finally, a block down, I see Kevin turning the corner! He came looking for us with Bepo, and was able to track us down.

So, in the end we stayed a few nights at Jane's Sobe. Was it okay? Yes, it turned out to be fine, except for the smoke that reeked in our Love Abode. (It is usually Bepo's room, who is a heavy smoker). And Jane and Bepo WERE very interesting people, to say the least. We'll have to tell you more about our conversations with them (and other people regarding them) another time.

All in all we ended up REALLY loving Split. And the sun returned the next day making the rest of our stay very enjoyable. The city is gorgeous and we had so much fun just walking around the Old Town pedestrian-only streets and the bustling promenade. The accommodations were something else, but we learned our lesson and made certain we had advance reservations for our next stop --- Dubrovnik. (In fact, we spent several hours at a local internet cafe picking and booking the room). And while we (my parents included) are laughing about this experience now, it definitely was an adventure we hope not to repeat!

Next stop: Dubrovnik. The adventure continues....